Cramer's Alternative Energy Picks

Stock Tickers: FSLR, WFR, PBW, PUW, PZD

Tonight, Cramer continued his "going green" segment after changing his stance on alternative energy stocks last night.   

One he really likes is First Solar (FSLR-NASDAQ) and he’s been behind it since March and it’s up 30% then; but he’d rather look for a pullback.  That one can compete head to head with normal power in the fairly near future.  MEMC Electronics (WFR-NYSE) is the other one he likes because they make the silicon wafers for solar panels.  This one is up 200% since Q3 2006 and he has been positive on this one all the way up.  He likes it because there is a silicon shortage in an environment that the demand exceeds supply, and they are the one to benefit from it.  Cramer did say that these names are all up big, so what you really want to do is look for these on pullbacks when they get cheaper. 

There is a much safer way to this, and you won’t be risking it all in a single leveraged name that would increase your risks.  A few names I have looked at for exposure to "Alt-En" and that I feel better about are actually what I call the "Alt-En" ETF’s, and these may offer you a safer mix of companies since some of the holdings are actually diversified and have many different operations.  The PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW-AMEX), PowerShares Cleantech ETF (PZD-AMEX), PowerShares WilderHill Progressive Energy Portfolio (PUW-AMEX) will all give some alternative energy sector exposure that won’t as easily rip apart your wallet if you make the wrong pick.  ETF’s are not going to give you the biggest bang for your buck when researching alternative energy pure-plays, but if you have been around the block for a long time you’ll already know how painful some of those stocks can be when you are wrong or when that sector runs into trouble.

Jon C. Ogg
April 17, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at [email protected]; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.